EP1612996B1 - Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application - Google Patents

Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1612996B1
EP1612996B1 EP04291679A EP04291679A EP1612996B1 EP 1612996 B1 EP1612996 B1 EP 1612996B1 EP 04291679 A EP04291679 A EP 04291679A EP 04291679 A EP04291679 A EP 04291679A EP 1612996 B1 EP1612996 B1 EP 1612996B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
network
application
interface
layer
network interface
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP04291679A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1612996A1 (en
Inventor
Fréderic Weis
Gregory Watts
Ryan Skraba
Michel Banatre
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Alcatel Lucent SAS
Original Assignee
Alcatel Lucent SAS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alcatel Lucent SAS filed Critical Alcatel Lucent SAS
Priority to EP04291679A priority Critical patent/EP1612996B1/en
Priority to DE602004020329T priority patent/DE602004020329D1/en
Priority to AT04291679T priority patent/ATE427601T1/en
Priority to US11/152,244 priority patent/US20060015636A1/en
Priority to JP2005184693A priority patent/JP5113993B2/en
Priority to CN200510080749.2A priority patent/CN1716963B/en
Publication of EP1612996A1 publication Critical patent/EP1612996A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1612996B1 publication Critical patent/EP1612996B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/66—Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/14—Session management
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H04L69/321—Interlayer communication protocols or service data unit [SDU] definitions; Interfaces between layers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
    • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
    • H04W48/18—Selecting a network or a communication service
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/06—Terminal devices adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of telecommunications and more particularly to a method for enabling an application for a device with multiple network interfaces to select among network interfaces to transmit its data, a device with multiple network interfaces.
  • multi-homed devices As the availability of different standards of wireless and wired networks increases and new devices that can profit from multiple networks (so-called “multi-homed” devices) enter the market, it will become increasingly popular for providers to offer their services over these heterogeneous networks. This is primarily relevant for mobile devices, where the network availability frequently changes, such as laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDA) and GSM (global system for mobile communication) mobile phones with alternative network interfaces, e.g. WLAN (wireless local area network) or Bluetooth in addition to GPRS (general packet radio service).
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • GPRS General packet radio service
  • Activating and deactivating a network interface programmatically affects all applications on a device and does not provide a fine-grained per-application network selection.
  • One application for example, should be able to send a small amount of data over a highly reliable, costly network while another application should be able to choose a less expensive, transient network for large transfers.
  • IP internet protocol
  • IP-connected device that provides a socket API (application protocol interface)
  • a particular network interface can be selected by specifying the IP address of the network interface.
  • IP-connected devices using the socket API have to track changes to their IP addresses as the underlying networks change, and to match them to their network interfaces.
  • IP address exists for the network interface before the application can interact with it.
  • Mobile phones frequently have a separate API for each available network interface, such as under the Symbian operating system, which uses different system calls for GPRS data transfer and Bluetooth data transfer. While providing different APIs for different network interfaces allows for fine-grained per-application control of interfaces, it involves rewriting the networking component of the application for each interface/API.
  • WO 2004/031488 A1 discloses a method for smart connection management of a portable device configured to support a plurality of network connection types.
  • a connection detector within the portable device detects network connections that are available to the portable device. Coupled to the connection detector and to a customizable profile storing configuration parameters for each of the network connection types, a connection manager then selects a particular one of the available connections based on user definable selection criteria.
  • the user definable selection criteria may comprise rules or parameters that define the user's preferences in selecting between connection types. These parameters may include, for example, a day of the week parameter, time of the day parameter, location parameter, link quality threshold parameter, access fee limit parameter, time of use limit parameter, an available battery capacity parameter or combinations of the foregoing.
  • US 2004/0042437 A1 describes a multi-mode interoperable mobile station communications architecture including an application layer, a services layer interfacing the applications layer, a multi-mode layer interfacing the service layer, and a hardware layer interfacing the multi-mode layer.
  • the multi-mode layer includes first and second interoperable radio access technologies.
  • the mobile station In heterogeneous networks, the mobile station simultaneously monitors cells of the different radio access networks in idle and active modes to perform cell selection and handover procedures, including the bi-directional handoff of radio access bearer services. If no suitable cells are found, an available PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) list is sent to a radio resource component.
  • PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
  • WO 03/065654 A1 describes Internet protocol based wireless communication arrangements.
  • a wireless network driver software architecture is proposed, named Multistandard Wireless Adaptation Layer (MWAL). It is for client devices that may be portable, need to efficiently switch form one wireless standard to another and that must be able to stay connected and reachable in the Internet even when switching between wireless communication standards.
  • the technique is a layer 2 technique, in which the MWAL enables the client device to perform vertical handovers between wireless communications standards.
  • the MWAL exports inter alia a public applications programmer's interface to be used by applications. This interface is defined in terms of commands that can be issued by applications and executed by the MWAL and events that are sent by the MWAL to relevant processes.
  • the network layer is one of several layers of a protocol stack. It provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable length data sequences from a source to a destination via one or more networks.
  • the network layer addresses messages and translates logical addresses and names into physical addresses.
  • Other layers of a protocol stack are e.g. the physical layer defining the electrical and physical specifications for devices, or the application layer performing common application services for the application. Protocol stacks are described in more detail for example in the Open Interconnection System (OSI) Reference Model.
  • OSI Open Interconnection System
  • the interface according to the invention allows for a lot of flexibility in selecting the network interface.
  • the application gets information on network interface availability and can consider further parameters such as data size, priority, cost, transmission speed etc. to select a specific network interface. Via the interface, the application then submits the selected network as parameter to the network layer. With this information, the network layer can establish a connection using the selected network interface.
  • Figure 1 shows schematically a mobile device 1 with an application 2 running on it.
  • a protocol 3 is needed to establish a connection over a network, process the data and actually transmit the data.
  • the protocol 3 is implemented partly or totally in the application 2 and/or the device 1 and/or the location 4.
  • the device 1 could be for example a mobile phone, a laptop, a PDA or a tablet computer.
  • Possible applications 2 could be e.g. sending/receiving SMS (short message service), MMS (multimedia message service), emails, music, synchronizing data etc..
  • SMS short message service
  • MMS multimedia message service
  • Some generally known protocols are for example http, ftp, telnet, TCP/IP and Ethernet.
  • Protocol stack 3 In general, one speaks of a protocol stack 3, because an interconnected application can abstractly be described as having a layer design (see Figure 2 ). In the OSI Reference Model for example, each layer has the property that it only uses the functions of the layer below, and only exports functionality to the layer above. Protocol stacks can be implemented either in hardware or software, or a mixture of both. Typically, only the lower layers are implemented in hardware, the higher layers are implemented in software. One of the stack layers is the network layer 31.
  • the application 2 has to communicate with the network layer 31 of the protocol 3 to get the necessary information on network interface availability for selecting the network interface to be used for data transmission, and to inform the network layer 31 of the selected network interface in order to get the correct connection established.
  • an appropriate interface symbolized by the arrow in Figure 2 ) between application 2 and network layer 31 is provided that allows for submission of the selected network interface from the application 2 to the network layer 31.
  • this interface is a Java interface based on usual standards.
  • the virtual machine on the application level and on the network layer level is modified in order to allow the application to submit the selected network interface as parameter and to allow the network layer to accept the selected network interface as parameter.
  • the implementation is transparent, i.e. all other functions of the application with the interface according to the invention will run normally with all network layers, other applications will run normally with network layers having this interface, and the application according to the invention with an unadapted network layer, e.g. the interface being only partly implemented on the application side, will generate a defined error message.
  • the application To be able to select a network interface, the application first needs to know, what network interfaces are available. This depends not only of the hardware components of the device on which the application is running, but also on what networks are available. If one considers usual mobile devices, possible networks could be e.g. WLAN, Bluetooth, GSM. One possibility to acquire this necessary information is illustrated in Figure 3 .
  • the application can query system properties to find information about the availability of network interfaces (action 51). If one uses a Java interface, it is preferable to use the MIDP 2.0 standard and to query MIDP properties.
  • the network layer answers the query of the application by giving the queried information (action 52).
  • FIG. 4 A possibility different from the invention is illustrated in Figure 4 .
  • the application is notified via IP datagrams on an internal socket (action 53). Because this action is not localized at the application or the network layer, the symbolizing box shows a dash-dotted line. This possibility is advantageous for mobile devices, which frequently deal with changing network availability. By using datagrams, the application may be constantly notified of network changes.
  • the application can proceed with the network interface selection (action 6).
  • Further important selection criteria may be data size, priority, transmission speed, cost etc.. Every application can have its own particular selection criteria and choose different network interfaces for transmitting different data to or from the same location. This ensures that the available network interfaces are always used optimally.
  • the network layer is notified of the selected network interface (action 6) and generates a connection via this selected interface (action 7) to enable data transmission to or from the application (action 81).
  • the network layer not only generates a connection via the selected interface (action 7), but also launches an additional application (action 82).
  • an authentication client could be interested when WLAN media is available, and could launch the authentication of the device to obtain IP connectivity.
  • Subsequent applications would be interested in the network interface when IP connectivity is available.
  • Additional applications may be launched by the first application, too.
  • Applications that are strongly related to the process of connection like authentication clients are preferably launched automatically by the network layer.
  • FIG. 5 shows more in detail an embodiment of the method according to the invention using a Java interface according to the MIDP 2.0 standard between the application and the network layer.
  • the Java MIDP 2.0 environment has the advantage of being highly portable.
  • An implementation of the method according to the invention in this environment makes it applicable to a wide range of devices.
  • connections to network services are typically made through a well-defined Java interface called HttpConnection, which takes a URL (universal resource locator) as a parameter.
  • URL universal resource locator
  • the protocol in this case http
  • Data is sent to the TCP/IP stack, which uses an IP routing table to choose the appropriate network interface.
  • the application After having gotten the network availability information either by query and answer (action 5), and after selection of the network interface to be used (action 61), the application generates an object "httpGPRS://path/to/resource” (action 62).
  • the implementation of the method according to the invention adds functionality to the Java virtual machine such that the protocol of the specified URL may explicitly choose the network interface (in this case GPRS). That is, a HttpConnection using the URL "httpGPRS://path/to/resouce" will always make the network connection over the GPRS interface. Likewise, the same application may specify the URL "httpWiFi://path/to/resource", which would always make the connection over the WLAN interface. After an HttpConnection object is created, the underlying application is completely transparent to the application.
  • the network layer generates a connection according to the HttpConnection object (action 71). It is responsible for assuring that the correct network interface is used for the protocol specified by the application. It is important to note that the Java standard, like MIDP 2.0 is extended without breaking it. Thus, existing applications that are compatible with the Java Standard can be easily modified to include the features of the present invention.
  • the method according to the invention offers fine-grained, per-application control over the selection of the network interface, but retains the transparency of the network interface after it has been selected. Accordingly, applications can be written and devices can be constructed to take advantage of this exchange of information on network interface availability and selected network interface implementing the method as software and/or hardware and, thus, provide a flexible and responsive service to the user, especially of mobile devices.
  • the invention shall be illustrated more vividly in a further example concerning MMS delivery.
  • a portable computer was equipped with multiple network interfaces, i.e. WiFi using a WLAN card and GPRS using a connected mobile phone and/or a wired LAN.
  • An application was written to take advantage of the multiple network interfaces.
  • the user was offered the capability to compose an MMS and send it immediately over GPRS, or to wait until the terminal entered a WLAN hotspot.
  • the user could either immediately download it and, in this case, prefer WLAN connectivity if it exists over the more expensive and slower GPRS, or wait until the terminal entered a WLAN hotspot. This offers the user more options and responsiveness from their terminal, which should translate to increased usage of the service and increased revenue for the service provider.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
  • Communication Control (AREA)
  • Computer And Data Communications (AREA)
  • Small-Scale Networks (AREA)

Abstract

For enabling an application for a device with multiple network interfaces to select among network interfaces to transmit its data, an interface between the application and the network layer of a protocol stack is provided for providing information on network interface availability to the application (5), selecting the network interface by the application (61) and submitting the selected network interface as parameter to the network layer (62).

Description

    Field of the Invention
  • The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications and more particularly to a method for enabling an application for a device with multiple network interfaces to select among network interfaces to transmit its data, a device with multiple network interfaces.
    • Background and Prior Art
  • As the availability of different standards of wireless and wired networks increases and new devices that can profit from multiple networks (so-called "multi-homed" devices) enter the market, it will become increasingly popular for providers to offer their services over these heterogeneous networks. This is primarily relevant for mobile devices, where the network availability frequently changes, such as laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDA) and GSM (global system for mobile communication) mobile phones with alternative network interfaces, e.g. WLAN (wireless local area network) or Bluetooth in addition to GPRS (general packet radio service).
  • Many of these devices offer a network layer, where one interface can be activated or deactivated programmatically. Activating and deactivating a network interface programmatically affects all applications on a device and does not provide a fine-grained per-application network selection. One application, for example, should be able to send a small amount of data over a highly reliable, costly network while another application should be able to choose a less expensive, transient network for large transfers.
  • Another possibility is to use IP(internet protocol)-connected devices offering IP routing tables that can be programmatically modified so that packets can be sent to a specific network interface according to the desired destination. But it is impossible to create a routing table that allows using different networks for the same destination.
  • If one uses an IP-connected device that provides a socket API (application protocol interface), a particular network interface can be selected by specifying the IP address of the network interface. But IP-connected devices using the socket API have to track changes to their IP addresses as the underlying networks change, and to match them to their network interfaces. In addition, there is a requirement that the IP address exists for the network interface before the application can interact with it.
  • Mobile phones frequently have a separate API for each available network interface, such as under the Symbian operating system, which uses different system calls for GPRS data transfer and Bluetooth data transfer. While providing different APIs for different network interfaces allows for fine-grained per-application control of interfaces, it involves rewriting the networking component of the application for each interface/API.
  • WO 2004/031488 A1 discloses a method for smart connection management of a portable device configured to support a plurality of network connection types. A connection detector within the portable device detects network connections that are available to the portable device. Coupled to the connection detector and to a customizable profile storing configuration parameters for each of the network connection types, a connection manager then selects a particular one of the available connections based on user definable selection criteria. The user definable selection criteria may comprise rules or parameters that define the user's preferences in selecting between connection types. These parameters may include, for example, a day of the week parameter, time of the day parameter, location parameter, link quality threshold parameter, access fee limit parameter, time of use limit parameter, an available battery capacity parameter or combinations of the foregoing.
  • US 2004/0042437 A1 describes a multi-mode interoperable mobile station communications architecture including an application layer, a services layer interfacing the applications layer, a multi-mode layer interfacing the service layer, and a hardware layer interfacing the multi-mode layer. The multi-mode layer includes first and second interoperable radio access technologies. In heterogeneous networks, the mobile station simultaneously monitors cells of the different radio access networks in idle and active modes to perform cell selection and handover procedures, including the bi-directional handoff of radio access bearer services. If no suitable cells are found, an available PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) list is sent to a radio resource component.
  • WO 03/065654 A1 describes Internet protocol based wireless communication arrangements. A wireless network driver software architecture is proposed, named Multistandard Wireless Adaptation Layer (MWAL). It is for client devices that may be portable, need to efficiently switch form one wireless standard to another and that must be able to stay connected and reachable in the Internet even when switching between wireless communication standards. The technique is a layer 2 technique, in which the MWAL enables the client device to perform vertical handovers between wireless communications standards. The MWAL exports inter alia a public applications programmer's interface to be used by applications. This interface is defined in terms of commands that can be issued by applications and executed by the MWAL and events that are sent by the MWAL to relevant processes.
    • Summary of the invention
  • It is an object of the present invention to allow for fine-grained per-application network interface selection when using devices with multiple network interfaces. This object, in addition to others, is achieved by means of a method according to claim 1 and a device according to claim 5. Further advantageous features of this invention are indicated in the dependent claims. All the claims are understood to be integral parts of the description.
  • By providing an interface according to the invention, it is possible for the network layer to make different network interfaces available to an application. The network layer is one of several layers of a protocol stack. It provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable length data sequences from a source to a destination via one or more networks. In particular, the network layer addresses messages and translates logical addresses and names into physical addresses. Other layers of a protocol stack are e.g. the physical layer defining the electrical and physical specifications for devices, or the application layer performing common application services for the application. Protocol stacks are described in more detail for example in the Open Interconnection System (OSI) Reference Model.
  • One of the main advantages of the new interface is that it is independent of the specific network interface to be used for transmitting data. The interface according to the invention allows for a lot of flexibility in selecting the network interface. The application gets information on network interface availability and can consider further parameters such as data size, priority, cost, transmission speed etc. to select a specific network interface. Via the interface, the application then submits the selected network as parameter to the network layer. With this information, the network layer can establish a connection using the selected network interface.
    • Brief description of the drawings
  • A detailed description of the invention is provided below. Said description is provided by way of a non-limiting example to be read with reference to the attached drawings in which:
    • Fig.1
    schematically shows the concept of data transmission;
    Fig.2
    schematically shows the application and the network layer;
    Fig.3
    schematically shows a first embodiment of the method according to the invention;
    Fig.4
    schematically shows a possibility different from the invention;
    Fig.5
    schematically shows a second embodiment of the method according to the invention.
    Detailed Description
  • Figure 1 shows schematically a mobile device 1 with an application 2 running on it. To transmit data from the device 1 to a location 4 or vice versa, a protocol 3 is needed to establish a connection over a network, process the data and actually transmit the data. The protocol 3 is implemented partly or totally in the application 2 and/or the device 1 and/or the location 4.
  • The device 1 could be for example a mobile phone, a laptop, a PDA or a tablet computer. Possible applications 2 could be e.g. sending/receiving SMS (short message service), MMS (multimedia message service), emails, music, synchronizing data etc.. Some generally known protocols are for example http, ftp, telnet, TCP/IP and Ethernet.
  • In general, one speaks of a protocol stack 3, because an interconnected application can abstractly be described as having a layer design (see Figure 2). In the OSI Reference Model for example, each layer has the property that it only uses the functions of the layer below, and only exports functionality to the layer above. Protocol stacks can be implemented either in hardware or software, or a mixture of both. Typically, only the lower layers are implemented in hardware, the higher layers are implemented in software. One of the stack layers is the network layer 31.
  • The application 2 has to communicate with the network layer 31 of the protocol 3 to get the necessary information on network interface availability for selecting the network interface to be used for data transmission, and to inform the network layer 31 of the selected network interface in order to get the correct connection established. According to the invention, an appropriate interface (symbolized by the arrow in Figure 2) between application 2 and network layer 31 is provided that allows for submission of the selected network interface from the application 2 to the network layer 31.
  • In preferred embodiments of the invention, this interface is a Java interface based on usual standards. The virtual machine on the application level and on the network layer level is modified in order to allow the application to submit the selected network interface as parameter and to allow the network layer to accept the selected network interface as parameter. By doing so, the implementation is transparent, i.e. all other functions of the application with the interface according to the invention will run normally with all network layers, other applications will run normally with network layers having this interface, and the application according to the invention with an unadapted network layer, e.g. the interface being only partly implemented on the application side, will generate a defined error message.
  • In Figure 3, an example for an embodiment of the method according to the invention is explained more in detail. The actions mainly occurring on the application side are symbolized by a box with a plain line, and the actions occurring mainly on the network layer side are symbolized by a box with a dotted line.
  • To be able to select a network interface, the application first needs to know, what network interfaces are available. This depends not only of the hardware components of the device on which the application is running, but also on what networks are available. If one considers usual mobile devices, possible networks could be e.g. WLAN, Bluetooth, GSM. One possibility to acquire this necessary information is illustrated in Figure 3. The application can query system properties to find information about the availability of network interfaces (action 51). If one uses a Java interface, it is preferable to use the MIDP 2.0 standard and to query MIDP properties. The network layer answers the query of the application by giving the queried information (action 52).
  • A possibility different from the invention is illustrated in Figure 4. There, the application is notified via IP datagrams on an internal socket (action 53). Because this action is not localized at the application or the network layer, the symbolizing box shows a dash-dotted line. This possibility is advantageous for mobile devices, which frequently deal with changing network availability. By using datagrams, the application may be constantly notified of network changes.
  • Once the application has been provided with the necessary information on network interface availability, it can proceed with the network interface selection (action 6). Further important selection criteria may be data size, priority, transmission speed, cost etc.. Every application can have its own particular selection criteria and choose different network interfaces for transmitting different data to or from the same location. This ensures that the available network interfaces are always used optimally.
  • After intelligently choosing the preferred network interface from the available network interfaces, the network layer is notified of the selected network interface (action 6) and generates a connection via this selected interface (action 7) to enable data transmission to or from the application (action 81).
  • In preferred embodiments, as schematically illustrated in Figure 4, the network layer not only generates a connection via the selected interface (action 7), but also launches an additional application (action 82). Different levels of availability of network interfaces can thus be made accessible to applications. For example, an authentication client could be interested when WLAN media is available, and could launch the authentication of the device to obtain IP connectivity. Subsequent applications would be interested in the network interface when IP connectivity is available. Additional applications may be launched by the first application, too. Applications that are strongly related to the process of connection like authentication clients are preferably launched automatically by the network layer.
  • Figure 5 shows more in detail an embodiment of the method according to the invention using a Java interface according to the MIDP 2.0 standard between the application and the network layer. The Java MIDP 2.0 environment has the advantage of being highly portable. An implementation of the method according to the invention in this environment makes it applicable to a wide range of devices. In this environment, connections to network services are typically made through a well-defined Java interface called HttpConnection, which takes a URL (universal resource locator) as a parameter. Normally for an URL such as "http://path/to/resource", the protocol (in this case http) is independent of the underlying network interface. Data is sent to the TCP/IP stack, which uses an IP routing table to choose the appropriate network interface.
  • After having gotten the network availability information either by query and answer (action 5), and after selection of the network interface to be used (action 61), the application generates an object "httpGPRS://path/to/resource" (action 62). Thus, the implementation of the method according to the invention adds functionality to the Java virtual machine such that the protocol of the specified URL may explicitly choose the network interface (in this case GPRS). That is, a HttpConnection using the URL "httpGPRS://path/to/resouce" will always make the network connection over the GPRS interface. Likewise, the same application may specify the URL "httpWiFi://path/to/resource", which would always make the connection over the WLAN interface. After an HttpConnection object is created, the underlying application is completely transparent to the application.
  • The network layer generates a connection according to the HttpConnection object (action 71). It is responsible for assuring that the correct network interface is used for the protocol specified by the application. It is important to note that the Java standard, like MIDP 2.0 is extended without breaking it. Thus, existing applications that are compatible with the Java Standard can be easily modified to include the features of the present invention.
  • The method according to the invention offers fine-grained, per-application control over the selection of the network interface, but retains the transparency of the network interface after it has been selected. Accordingly, applications can be written and devices can be constructed to take advantage of this exchange of information on network interface availability and selected network interface implementing the method as software and/or hardware and, thus, provide a flexible and responsive service to the user, especially of mobile devices.
  • The invention shall be illustrated more vividly in a further example concerning MMS delivery. A portable computer was equipped with multiple network interfaces, i.e. WiFi using a WLAN card and GPRS using a connected mobile phone and/or a wired LAN. An application was written to take advantage of the multiple network interfaces. Specifically, the user was offered the capability to compose an MMS and send it immediately over GPRS, or to wait until the terminal entered a WLAN hotspot. Likewise, on receiving a MMS notification, the user could either immediately download it and, in this case, prefer WLAN connectivity if it exists over the more expensive and slower GPRS, or wait until the terminal entered a WLAN hotspot. This offers the user more options and responsiveness from their terminal, which should translate to increased usage of the service and increased revenue for the service provider.

Claims (6)

  1. A method for enabling an application (2) for a device (1) with multiple network interfaces to select among network interfaces to transmit its data, by providing an interface between the application (2) and the network layer (31) of a protocol stack (3) for
    - providing information on network interface availability to the application (2);
    - selecting the network interface by the application (2);
    - submitting the selected network interface as parameter to the network layer (31), wherein the information on network interface availability is provided by the application layer querying (51) information from the network layer.
  2. The method of claim 1 wherein the interface between the application (2) and the network layer (31) is a Java interface.
  3. The method of claim 1 wherein an object containing information on the protocol and the network interface is generated by the application (2) for submitting the selected network interface as parameter to the network layer (31).
  4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of calling (82) an additional application on the network layer level.
  5. A device (1) with multiple network interfaces characterized in that it comprises means (2, 3, 31)for the implementation of the method of any one of claims 1 to 4.
  6. The device of claim 5 characterized in that the device (1) is mobile.
EP04291679A 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application Expired - Lifetime EP1612996B1 (en)

Priority Applications (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04291679A EP1612996B1 (en) 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application
DE602004020329T DE602004020329D1 (en) 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 Method to choose between network interfaces, multi-networked device, and processing layer
AT04291679T ATE427601T1 (en) 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 METHOD FOR SELECTING BETWEEN NETWORK INTERFACES, DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE NETWORK INTERFACES AND PROCESSING LAYER
US11/152,244 US20060015636A1 (en) 2004-07-01 2005-06-15 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application
JP2005184693A JP5113993B2 (en) 2004-07-01 2005-06-24 Method for selecting devices and applications with multiple network interfaces among network interfaces
CN200510080749.2A CN1716963B (en) 2004-07-01 2005-06-30 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04291679A EP1612996B1 (en) 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1612996A1 EP1612996A1 (en) 2006-01-04
EP1612996B1 true EP1612996B1 (en) 2009-04-01

Family

ID=34931218

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04291679A Expired - Lifetime EP1612996B1 (en) 2004-07-01 2004-07-01 Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US20060015636A1 (en)
EP (1) EP1612996B1 (en)
JP (1) JP5113993B2 (en)
CN (1) CN1716963B (en)
AT (1) ATE427601T1 (en)
DE (1) DE602004020329D1 (en)

Families Citing this family (42)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20060100031A (en) * 2005-03-16 2006-09-20 삼성전자주식회사 Apparatus and method for selecting network interface in mobile terminal supporting multi-interface
US20060239378A1 (en) * 2005-03-25 2006-10-26 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method and apparatus for determining transmitter identification information in terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting system
US8145262B2 (en) 2005-05-17 2012-03-27 Pine Valley Investments, Inc. Multimode land mobile radio
US8279868B2 (en) 2005-05-17 2012-10-02 Pine Valley Investments, Inc. System providing land mobile radio content using a cellular data network
US7821985B2 (en) * 2006-03-13 2010-10-26 Microsoft Corporation Network interface routing using computational context
US20070245005A1 (en) * 2006-04-18 2007-10-18 Banerjee Dwip N Method and data processing system for managing a plurality of interfaces
US8364850B2 (en) * 2006-07-20 2013-01-29 Qualcomm Incorporated Utility service in multi-processor environment
US8194682B2 (en) 2006-08-07 2012-06-05 Pine Valley Investments, Inc. Multiple protocol land mobile radio system
ES2546019T3 (en) 2007-04-13 2015-09-17 Deutsche Telekom Ag Method and communication device in multiple connectivity mode for dynamic control of transmission rates
DE602007003569D1 (en) * 2007-04-30 2010-01-14 Research In Motion Ltd System and method for sending and receiving packets
US8670422B2 (en) * 2007-04-30 2014-03-11 Blackberry Limited System and method for sending and receiving packets
US8274893B2 (en) * 2007-06-15 2012-09-25 Microsoft Corporation Network interface selection using historical connection information
FI20075686A0 (en) * 2007-09-28 2007-09-28 Nokia Corp Configuration method and device
EP2045968B1 (en) 2007-10-02 2011-06-15 Research In Motion Limited Methods for selective downloading to a mobile communication device
US8145222B2 (en) 2007-10-02 2012-03-27 Research In Motion Limited Method, mobile communication device, and system for selective downloading to a mobile communication device
US8433278B2 (en) 2007-10-31 2013-04-30 Research In Motion Limited System and method for selecting a message transport for a multi-mode communication device
EP2328377B1 (en) * 2007-10-31 2016-10-05 BlackBerry Limited System and method for selecting a message transport for a multi-mode communication device
US8238238B2 (en) * 2008-05-16 2012-08-07 Microsoft Corporation Performing networking tasks based on destination networks
RU2011117608A (en) * 2008-10-15 2012-11-27 Нокиа Корпорейшн METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE PRODUCT FOR DETERMINING THE NETWORK INTERFACE USED FOR ACCESS TO THE NETWORK RESOURCE
US8254251B2 (en) * 2009-02-03 2012-08-28 Mobix Wireless Solutions Ltd. Mesh hybrid communication network
US8406168B2 (en) 2009-03-13 2013-03-26 Harris Corporation Asymmetric broadband data radio network
JP5550297B2 (en) * 2009-10-02 2014-07-16 キヤノン株式会社 COMMUNICATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION DEVICE COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM
KR20110063297A (en) 2009-12-02 2011-06-10 삼성전자주식회사 Mobile device and control method thereof
US9411647B2 (en) * 2010-01-22 2016-08-09 Qualcomm Incorporated Hierarchical routing and interface selection for multi-processor multimode network devices
TW201132163A (en) * 2010-03-12 2011-09-16 Gemtek Technology Co Ltd Network interface selection method and network device thereof
US8775669B2 (en) * 2010-03-25 2014-07-08 United Parcel Service Of America, Inc. Data communication systems and methods
US9344335B2 (en) 2011-09-09 2016-05-17 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Network communication and cost awareness
GB2494645A (en) * 2011-09-13 2013-03-20 Skype Application layer handoff between wireless networks
WO2013058423A1 (en) 2011-10-21 2013-04-25 엘지전자 주식회사 Electronic device and method for operating the electronic device
US9059869B2 (en) * 2012-10-09 2015-06-16 Qualcomm Incorporated Interface selection in a hybrid communication device
CN103888363B (en) * 2012-12-21 2017-12-22 中兴通讯股份有限公司 A kind of service shunting method and device for accessing internet
US10574560B2 (en) 2013-02-13 2020-02-25 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Specifying link layer information in a URL
CN104023260B (en) * 2013-02-28 2018-04-27 腾讯科技（深圳）有限公司 Hardware decoding realization method, device and player
US20140297818A1 (en) * 2013-03-29 2014-10-02 Microsoft Corporation Parallel and Dynamic Interface Selection
US9998536B2 (en) 2013-05-29 2018-06-12 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Metered network synchronization
US9705774B2 (en) * 2013-10-29 2017-07-11 Lg Electronics Inc. Method for controlling transmission power and transmission delay, and communication terminal using same
US9779004B2 (en) * 2015-03-23 2017-10-03 Netapp, Inc. Methods and systems for real-time activity tracing in a storage environment
US10728164B2 (en) 2016-02-12 2020-07-28 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Power-aware network communication
US10511542B2 (en) 2016-06-10 2019-12-17 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Multi-interface power-aware networking
US10623494B1 (en) * 2017-07-31 2020-04-14 EMC IP Holding Company LLC System and method for non-disruptive move of data and application stacks
US11706634B2 (en) * 2021-02-03 2023-07-18 T-Mobile Innovations Llc Wireless communication network optimization for user applications in wireless user equipment (UE)
CN115714720A (en) * 2021-08-20 2023-02-24 中移物联网有限公司 Embedded network framework and method for supporting multiple communication systems

Family Cites Families (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6236365B1 (en) * 1996-09-09 2001-05-22 Tracbeam, Llc Location of a mobile station using a plurality of commercial wireless infrastructures
US6094673A (en) * 1998-01-16 2000-07-25 Aspect Communications Method and apparatus for generating agent scripts
US6718137B1 (en) * 1999-01-05 2004-04-06 Ciena Corporation Method and apparatus for configuration by a first network element based on operating parameters of a second network element
JP3583667B2 (en) * 1999-09-30 2004-11-04 株式会社東芝 Wireless terminal device, data transfer method, and control information notification method
JP2002108731A (en) * 2000-09-27 2002-04-12 Digital Electronics Corp Network setting method for computer, recording medium recorded with program thereof, and computer capable of performing network setting by the method
CN1636356A (en) 2002-01-29 2005-07-06 皇家飞利浦电子股份有限公司 Internet protocol based wireless communication arrangements
EP1337080A3 (en) * 2002-02-15 2005-06-08 Hitachi, Ltd. Method of controlling the network devices
US7065367B2 (en) * 2002-07-11 2006-06-20 Oliver Michaelis Interface selection in a wireless communication network
US6914913B2 (en) 2002-08-27 2005-07-05 Motorola, Inc. Multi-mode interoperable mobile station communications architectures and methods
JP2004112225A (en) * 2002-09-17 2004-04-08 Ricoh Co Ltd Information communication system
KR20050070152A (en) 2002-10-02 2005-07-05 코닌클리케 필립스 일렉트로닉스 엔.브이. Smart connection management of portable devices
US7698550B2 (en) * 2002-11-27 2010-04-13 Microsoft Corporation Native wi-fi architecture for 802.11 networks
US20040133896A1 (en) * 2002-12-20 2004-07-08 Sony Corporation And Sony Electronics, Inc. Network device application interface

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN1716963A (en) 2006-01-04
JP5113993B2 (en) 2013-01-09
ATE427601T1 (en) 2009-04-15
US20060015636A1 (en) 2006-01-19
EP1612996A1 (en) 2006-01-04
CN1716963B (en) 2010-05-05
DE602004020329D1 (en) 2009-05-14
JP2006072969A (en) 2006-03-16

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP1612996B1 (en) Method for selecting among network interfaces, device with multiple network interfaces and application
US11129085B2 (en) System and method for selecting a message transport for a multi-mode communication device
EP2438791B1 (en) Connection manager for a wireless communication device
AU2003293434C1 (en) System and method for handshaking between wireless devices and servers
KR101106307B1 (en) System and method to identify voice call continuity vcc subscriber
FI105135B (en) A system and method for transmitting a call and a mobile station
US20070171879A1 (en) Method and apparatus for facilitating switched packet data services on multiple networks
US9369940B2 (en) Mobile handheld multi-media gateway and phone
KR20080024521A (en) Multimode mobile terminal with automatic selection of interface of radio access network during a service session
EP2143254B1 (en) System and method for sharing common location-related information between communication devices
JP2008544672A (en) System, terminal, network entity, method, and computer program product for system selection in a multi-mode communication system
KR20040094727A (en) Method and device for adapting the configuration of an application of a mobile terminal to an accessible data connection
US20040259585A1 (en) Wireless device having dual bus archeticure for interfacing with cellular signals and short-range radio signals
EP2575301B1 (en) Virtual composite telematic modem
JP2013504237A (en) Route selection service
WO2012033945A1 (en) Location based service data connection support across multiple profiles
US20090061830A1 (en) System and method for requesting asynchronous file downloads to a cellular pervasive device from a website
KR100509151B1 (en) double mode terminal and method for driving the same
JP2004080106A (en) Mobile terminal communication method and mobile terminal
KR100625239B1 (en) Multi terminal, driving method for the same and medium thereof
KR20050095058A (en) Method for downloading multimedia contents in the mobile communication terminal
KR100569253B1 (en) Avatar phone system and method for employing as the same
Sun et al. Adaptive Connectivity Management for Hybrid Wireless and Mobile Networking Environment

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL HR LT LV MK

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20060515

AKX Designation fees paid

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: ALCATEL LUCENT

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20070508

GRAP Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR1

GRAS Grant fee paid

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR3

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: FG4D

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: CH

Ref legal event code: EP

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: IE

Ref legal event code: FG4D

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 602004020329

Country of ref document: DE

Date of ref document: 20090514

Kind code of ref document: P

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SI

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

NLV1 Nl: lapsed or annulled due to failure to fulfill the requirements of art. 29p and 29m of the patents act
PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090712

Ref country code: PT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090902

Ref country code: FI

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: AT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: EE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090701

Ref country code: NL

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: PL

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: RO

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: CZ

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: DK

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SK

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: BE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

Ref country code: MC

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20090731

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: CH

Ref legal event code: PL

26N No opposition filed

Effective date: 20100105

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: BG

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090701

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: LI

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20090731

Ref country code: CH

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20090731

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20090701

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090702

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: LU

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20090701

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: HU

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20091002

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: TR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: CY

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20090401

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: 732E

Free format text: REGISTERED BETWEEN 20130926 AND 20131002

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: GC

Effective date: 20131018

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: RG

Effective date: 20141016

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: PLFP

Year of fee payment: 12

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CA

Effective date: 20150521

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CA

Effective date: 20150521

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: PLFP

Year of fee payment: 13

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: PLFP

Year of fee payment: 14

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: PLFP

Year of fee payment: 15

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Payment date: 20220613

Year of fee payment: 19

Ref country code: GB

Payment date: 20220606

Year of fee payment: 19

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Payment date: 20220609

Year of fee payment: 19

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Payment date: 20220531

Year of fee payment: 19

P01 Opt-out of the competence of the unified patent court (upc) registered

Effective date: 20230527

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: R119

Ref document number: 602004020329

Country of ref document: DE

GBPC Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 20230701

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20240201

Ref country code: GB

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20230701

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20230731

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20230701